What an absolute disaster.

Kidding, it’s preseason, and all things considered, that was a great game to watch. In typical Celtics fashion, the Celtics fell to the Magic 103-102 after Jeff Dowtin hit a heavily contested midrange shot to put the Magic up by 1 with only 0.2 seconds left on the clock. Would a normal game that doesn’t double my heartrate be too much to ask? Regardless, there was some great, and not so great takeaways from this game, so let’s dive right into it.

Considering the sizeable injury report, the Celtics threw out their bench unit to start things off for the night. The starters included Payton Pritchard, Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith, Grant Williams, and Robert Williams III. Not surprising considering who was available.

Payton started off the game with 10 quick points in the first quarter, and continued his strong play until he left late in the second quarter with what the team is reporting is a broken nose. He will fly back to Boston, missing the final preseason game against the Miami Heat this Friday.

Aaron Nesmith and Romeo Langford took the opportunity to stand out, and did just that. When they were on the court, they were clearly two of the best players on the court. I’d argue that Nesmith was the best player tonight for either side. Nesmith had 23 points on 8/16 shooting, knocking in 4/8 of the threes he took, and was a team high +11. Romeo was second, with a +/- of +9. He had 12 points on 5/13 from the floor. What stood out to me about these two tonight was they seem to have developed chemistry not only between themselves, but with Rob Williams as well. They both were cutting at the right times, driving and kicking out with accuracy, and looking to score when appropriate. Both have made great strides in their game, and seem to be on the path towards playing some meaningful minutes this season.

Another thing that was encouraging was seeing Rob Williams hustle around. I was thinking about it, and I’m not sure I could name another NBA big that hustles as much as Rob does. He had this one play in particular in the second quarter where he saved a ball and in one motion, hit Nesmith with a perfect pass leading to an easy layup. Anywhere Rob goes on the court, he impacts it. He is truly a player that can’t be described through the box score, you just have to see it.

It was nice to see Jabari Parker have a nice game. Fighting for a roster spot, this was exactly the type of night I’m sure he was looking for. He put up 10 points on an efficient 4/9 from the floor in only 15 minutes of play. He also had a few nice hustle plays, something the coaching staff must’ve been impressed with.

Now onto the bad. Prior to Dowtin’s game winner, Garrison Matthews took what, put lightly, was a questionable three point attempt. Heavily contested, too much time on the shot clock, it wasn’t a great decision. It’s not like he had a hot hand, either. He was 2/6 up to that point from behind the arc (bringing his final total to 2/7), and had a team low +/- of -10. It wasn’t the type of night to secure a roster spot.

Arcidiacono also had a rough outing. Although his ball handling and playmaking was decent, he went 0/5 from the floor amounting to 0 points scored in 16 minutes of action. Aricidiacono has had NBA action before, averaging 4.8 points for his career, and as much as 6.7 points in 2018. It just hasn’t been a good preseason for him thus far, and I’m inclined to say there isn’t a spot for him on this team.

Tonight with Al out of the rotation, I was hoping to see some solid play from Enes Kanter, however, he hasn’t seemed to impact the floor like he did in 2019 for the Celtics. He’s had moments where he’ll grab an offensive rebound and put it back up, but not nearly as consistently as he did for us two years ago. Once Al comes back, I’ll be curious to see the type of role he plays for the team as the season progresses.

As for tonight’s defense, it wasn’t terrible, but it could’ve been better. Then again, what can you expect when most of your main guys, and best defenders, are out?

Overall, tonight was a good game despite the loss. Hopefully it gave the coaching staff more insight into how they’re going to manage their role players, and who will/won’t make the final roster prior to the season opener. The Celtics will be back at it on Friday against the Miami Heat, where they will either finish preseason 3-1, or 2-2.